This study examines the influence of power differentials on stigma with respect to separation and status loss regarding an interaction with an individual who has hepatitis B. Rooted in Link and Phelan's (2001) stigma model and Trope and Liberman's (2010) construal level theory (CLT), the current study posits that power relations change stigma such that power holders show more agreement with statements about separation and status loss when they interact with a powerless disease carrier, as compared to the powerless interacting with a powerful disease carrier. In addition, the study tests CLT's prediction on the relationship between power and levels of mental construal. It is expected that an elevated sense of power should trigger higher level of construal, as demonstrated by abstract thinking. A written survey was conducted with one hundred and fifty Chinese college students. Results indicated that power differentials between the healthy participants and the hypothetical disease carrier exerted no impact on self-report stigma measures. Instead, the strongest indicators for stigma outcomes were interpersonal liking and perceived similarity. However, power relations significantly predicted attitude toward the university segregation policy and whether participants agreed to share food with the disease carrier. Contrary to CLT's prediction, participants in low power conditions generated more abstract descriptions assessed by the number of adjectives and state verbs compared to participants in high power conditions. Implications, future directions and limitations are discussed.
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